It's Not Quite As Simple As Roasting Marshmellows
by cowaforniangel
Summary: The PCA environmental club is having a camping trip and Zoey drags Chase along. Michael, Lola, Nicole, and Logan come along to escape schoolwork and get extra credit. ZoeyChase and maybe some other pairings.
1. A Dream and A Date

**Disclaimer: I do not own Zoey 101 or any of the Characters. I just like to write about them because I have no life. Well, sort of. I have a sort of life.**

* * *

"And now it's time for me to tell you about someone very special to me here at PCA. His name is Chase Matthews and he's the funniest, sweetest, ni-" Zoey's words were interrupted by her cell phone ringing. As she searched for it, she discovered it wasn't on the table where the sound was coming from. She hit the table to make the ring stop. "I was almost done with my stupid project!" She grunted in frustration and pressed pause on the DVD recorder. "Where is i-"

"Zoe! Zoe!" Nicole yelled.

"Nicole, where are you?" Zoey shot around the room, searching for the source of the voice.

"I'm right here, Zoe!" Nicole's voice seemed to enjoy the nickname she had given Zoey.

"Where is right he-" Zoey's cell phone began to ring again. She bit her lip, more frustrated than before and kicked over her DVD recorder. "Make it stop!"

"Zoey! Answer your stupid phone!" Nicole shouted, shaking Zoey with such force that the sleeping girl opened her eyes. Zoey yelped in shock. Nicole screamed in response.

"Will you two shut up? I'm trying to sleep!" Lola raised her voice harshly, speaking almost the exact words Dana used to speak almost every morning. Zoey ignored her new roommate.

"My phone. Where is it?" She asked Nicole.

"Right here. Now answer the stupid thing. Chase has been calling you for five minutes! He's pretty determined," Nicole said, her face displaying innocence. Zoey yawned and pressed the 'answer' key on her phone.

"Hello?" Zoey spoke groggily.

"Hey Zoe," Chase's voice sounded from the other line. "What are you doing right now?"

"Well, I was sleeping, but seeing as you called me six times, I'm up now," Zoey answered.

"Oh. Sorry, I thought most people would be up by nine in the morning," he laughed.

"You don't know a lot about girls, do you?" Zoey responded.

"I suppose I don't," Chase's voice spoke happily. There was a pause before he went on. "Okay, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out later today." Zoey sat up.

"What do you have in mind?" She questioned.

"Maybe we could meet up at Sushi Rox and just hang out all day, decide from there."

"Okay, so, how does twelve sound?"

"Twelve sounds great. So, just me and you then?" Chase's voice was becoming a little shaky.

"Oh, right. Just me and you," Zoey said, rather surprised but not denying Chase's request.

"Great. I'll see you at Sushi Rox then."

"Okay, bye," Zoey said, smiling a little.

"Bye." And with that, Zoey hung up. Nicole, who had been standing there the entire time watching the conversation, squealed rather loudly.

"What did he say?" She asked excitedly.

"Do you guys take no note that I was sleeping?" Lola raised her voice, but Nicole and Zoey took no notice. They both knew that Lola didn't quite understand. Seeing as Zoey and Nicole were best friends, they were the only two that really knew how Zoey felt about Chase, but Zoey was never in a rush to get him because there was never any competition for him at the school.

"He wants to hang out today," Zoey said, a her grin expanding to a large toothy smile. "Just me and him." Nicole squealed again, only to have her face met with a pillow.

"I need my beauty sleep! Actresses don't do perfectly without enough sleep, you know!" Lola shouted. Nicole threw the pillow back and ignored her.

"Just the two of you?" Nicole smiled.

"It's gunna be so much fun. I'm gunna go brush my teeth," Zoey said, getting out of bed. Nicole opened her mouth to say something, but Zoey interrupted before any words left Nicole's mouth. "I don't wanna hear the floss thing, okay?" Nicole huffed in disappointment and another pillow collided with her head.

* * *

Michael looked up at Chase.

"You called her at nine in the morning?"Michael asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" Chase countered. Logan laughed.

"Don't you know anything about girls? They sleep until one in the afternoon!" Logan said very matter-of-factly.

"It's like the spit-shake," Michael explained.

"Really?" Chase seemed like a naive child.

"Of course, genius!" Logan shouted. He stopped to think, opened his mouth, but shut it again. Logan then spoke, "Normally I would give you some advice, but you'll just do something stupid anyways. Have fun with your life." Logan's harsh statement ended and he left the room. Chase looked innocently back at Michael.

"So, no spit shaking, no calling before ten," Chase began listing, but Michael covered up Chase's mouth.

"Just be yourself and don't worry about what Logan says, man," Michael interrupted, tired of watching Logan brainwash Chase.

"But he _is_ right," Chase stated.

"Sometimes Logan's right," Michael didn't enjoy saying this much, but it was true. Chase opened his mouth to speak, but Michael covered it again. "But most of the time he's wrong. When are you going to learn that?" Michael removed his hand from Chase's mouth. Chase looked at his best friend innocently.

"I guess," Chase began, letting out a sigh, "later?" Chase smirked. Michael smiled.

"No matter what Logan says, remember this: He's a shallow guy who's never kissed a girl before," Michael whispered.

"What?" Chase jumped a bit at hearing this.

"You can't tell anyone. It's a secret!" Michael winked at Chase, who winked back with a large grin on his face. "Now go get ready."

* * *

When Chase entered Sushi Rox, Zoey was already sitting down.

"Oh, am I late?" Chase asked nervously, checking his watch as he joined her at the table.

"No, I was just early," Zoey smiled. Chase raised an eyebrow.

"You're always early," Chase told her.

"Yeah, I guess I am," Zoey laughed, reflecting back on the time that she resigned from being school president right before Chase had. "So what do you want?"

"How about some California rolls?" Chase suggested. Zoey nodded, and Chase hopped up out of his seat and strode over to the counter. "Hey Kazu," Chase smiled.

"Hello Chase," Kazu smiled back. "You're here with Zoey, I see." Kazu winked. Chase looked back at the girl of his dreams. It seemed like everyone knew how he felt about her except for her. Or so he thought.

"Yeah, I am. Lucky me, huh?" He chuckled lightly. "An order of California rolls," Chase said, handing Kazu the money. After receiving his change, Chase walked back to the table. After he sat down, the two teens sat around in an awkward silence.

"So," Zoey sliced the silence with a verbal knife, "How's Michael?"

"Michael's pretty good," Chase spoke, not quite sure of what else to say about his best friend. Chase smiled nervously, and the two sat in silence again until the California rolls were ready. Zoey took a bite into one of the rolls and her expression lightened immediately.

"Mmm!" She grunted a little.

"They're good, aren't they?" Chase smiled.

"I forgot how good real food is!" Zoey said, taking another heaping bite.

"Um, Real food?" Chase asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Quinn's been feeding Nicole and I her all healthy, no pesticides, laboratory tested, calorie free pizzas and vegetables because Nicole and I were talking about how hard it is to stay away from unhealthy food because it tasted so good," Zoey began explaining. Chase nodded as Zoey took another bite, thus finishing her first roll, and waited for her to chew and swallow. As she grabbed another one, she continued talking. "They all taste like rice cakes." Zoey's face was dead serious.

"I thought you liked rice cakes," Chase challenged Zoey's statement.

"Oh, of course I like rice cakes," Zoey paused to take another bite. After swallowing, she went on. "But not every day. I don't like rice cake flavored pizza. Or rice cake flavored cake. Or rice cake flavored apples. Or rice cake flavored rice cakes!" Zoey almost squeaked because she was raising the sound of her voice.

"Why doesn't Lola have to eat rice cake flavored everything?" Chase asked as he watched Zoey wolf down another California roll.

"She faked an allergic reaction to the food, and Quinn felt so bad, she won't even give Nicole and I the food in the same room that Lola's in," Zoey said. Chase nodded.

"That's harsh. Well, maybe you could escape from it," Chase tried solving her problems.

"How?" She asked before finishing her third roll.

"I don't' know," Chase answered honestly. "But we can figure out a way." Zoey smiled.

"Thanks Chase," She said, taking a sip of her PCA water bottle, "You're the best." Chase felt his cheeks redden a bit. Zoey's did too.

* * *

After the California rolls, Chase and Zoey decided to go to the PCA park, where they usually had PCA's student's bands play during Saturday afternoons. Zoey pulled out a folded up blanket from her rather large purse and spread it out before the two.

"How'd you fit-" Chase began, but Zoey held up her hand to stop him.

"Rice cake flavored food isn't the only think Quinn's testing on me," She smiled a little and sat down on the blanket. She motioned for him to join her. The song that was playing came to an end, and they clapped.

"Isn't that Dean Rivers?" Chase pointed to the stage, where, sure enough, Dean Rivers was approaching the microphone.

"Attention students," The dean began, "The environmental club is having a camping trip. All who are interested should sign up in the student lounge." Zoey looked at Chase with an interested look on her face.

"Don't you have two tents?" She asked cunningly.

"Yeah, but you don't seriously want to-" Chase was, yet again, interrupted by Zoey.

"If it means getting away from Quinn's freakish experiments, then I would love to!" Zoey smiled. "And you're coming with me. I don't want to be the only normal person there." A new band began playing. "Please?"

"Well," Chase spoke, not sure what to say. He wasn't all to thrilled about camping, but he didn't want to say no to Zoey. Plus, if he went with her, then she would spend more time with him avoiding the environmental geeks, and she would be happy. "Yeah, I guess." Zoey hugged him so hard that she knocked him over, so the two were laying down for a brief moment.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" Zoey shouted gleefully, a smile spread across her face. She had gained two things from this: Alone time with Chase and a long break from Quinn.


	2. The Run of the Health Food

**Aw, I'm glad you guys liked the first chapter so much! I'm a bit unsure of this chapter, so, er, don't be mad! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Zoey 101 or any of the characters on the show. Although I sure do wish I do.**

* * *

Lola was thumbing through the latest edition of _Seventeen_.

"Ha! Hillary Duff thinks she's so hot now. Wait until she sees _my_ face on the cover!" Lola mumbled to herself. Nicole was laying on Zoey's bed, staring at the ceiling. She was reviewing her facts for her history test on Monday. Just then, Quinn came rushing in. Lola hadn't glanced up from her magazine until she heard Quinn's voice.

"Okay Nicole and Zoey, are you guys ready for fat, calorie, and sugar free deviled eggs?" Quinn asked enthusiastically. Lola looked up and put on her sick face. "Oh, sorry Lo-" Quinn began, but the door was slammed from Lola running out of the room. After pausing to look around, Quinn's face displayed a puzzled look. "Where's Zoey?"

"Oh, she's on a date with Chase," Nicole explained, standing up, preparing to flee the room.  
"What? That means she's having highly unhealthy foods! She must have some of my deviled eggs!" Quinn shouted, springing towards the door. Nicole was shocked. She couldn't let Quinn ruin Zoey's chance of being with Chase. This was the first time the entire year that the two had spent time alone together.

"Quinn, you can't do that!" Nicole shouted, rushing over to her friend and snatching her arm.

"Why not?" Quinn asked. Nicole knew that the fact that Zoey and Chase clearly had something going on wasn't a secret, but she didn't want to confirm Quinn's theory that Zoey really liked Chase. Nicole's face went blank, and then gloomy.

"Because..." Nicole couldn't believe she was doing this to herself. "I haven't had my lunch yet." And with that, Nicole opened her mouth and let a grotesque expression settle in on her face. Quinn suddenly realized that she had to feed Nicole.

"Oh, why didn't you say so?" Quinn asked, popping an egg into Nicole's mouth. Nicole chewed slowly and swallowed hard, trying her best to hide the fact that she felt like vomiting. "Okay, now we can go!" Quinn opened up the door. Nicole felt like kicking herself, but she stopped Quinn yet again.

"I'm still hungry!" Nicole shouted after Quinn, who threw a deviled egg at her. Nicole ate it and Quinn, yet again, rushed off. Nicole felt like crying, but she chased after the flash of hair holding a tray of deviled eggs.

* * *

Chase smiled at Zoey as they walked to the signups for the environmental club's camping trip.

"So what makes you think that Quinn might not come along and ruin your plan?" Chase asked.

"Mark hates camping," Zoey answered.

"I know Mark hates camping, but I was asking you a question about Quinn," Chase spoke.

"And my answer to that question is that Mark hates camping. I'm pretty sure that this week is Mark's week off from speeches and things like that, and I'm pretty sure his number one fan would want to take advantage of the situation," Zoey explained.

"Oooh!" Chase smiled. "I see now. Do you always think things out like this?" Chase opened the door and followed Zoey into the lounge.

"I guess I do," Zoey smiled. Chase's smile grew larger. He was resisting the urge to fall over on the ground and be happy like this forever. They stood in front of a clipboard that read "ENVIRONMENTAL CLUB CAMPING TRIP SIGNUPS." Zoey grabbed a pencil and neatly wrote her name on one of the lines. Chase scribbled his name on as well.

"So, now what?" Chase asked, hoping Zoey had an idea as to what to do.

"I dunno," Zoey paused to think. "Wanna play foosball?" Chase smiled.

"Yeah!" He shouted excitedly. "Y'know, Zoe, I've been meaning to tell you something..." Chase, as usual, was trying to express his feelings for Zoey to her. Zoey loved hearing him try this. She told Nicole that the day he told her, she would kiss him then and there just to make Nicole happy, who had been going on and on about how Zoey needed a kiss from a guy.

"Yeah?" Zoey said, blushing a little.

"Well, er, I uh, really..." Just then, Dustin came running in. Zoey's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Zoey! Zoey!" He shouted, running to her.

"Yes Dustin?" Zoey asked, somewhat annoyed. Chase had once said Dustin had 'perfect' timing. Zoey was beginning to think this too.

"Nicole told me to tell you that Quinn's trying to... feed you," Dustin said, not quite sure if what he was saying sounded sane. Zoey's face went pale, and her eyes darted to Chase.

"Where is she now?" Zoey asked, her eyes landing back on Dustin.

"She's coming to the lounge right now," Dustin spoke, turning back. "There she is!" He pointed through the glass door.

"Thanks Dustin," Zoey said, bending over to give her little brother a kiss on the top of his head. She then wheeled around and walked at top speed to Chase. She took hold of his arm and began running.

"Where are we going?" Chase said, meeting Zoey's pace.

"Your dorm," Zoey answered. Chase winced at the thought of Zoey finding some of his underwear lying on the floor.

"O...okay then," Chase responded, and Zoey pulled him harder, running a bit faster.

After about five minutes of running, the two lovebirds found themselves in Chase's dorm. Zoey plopped herself down on what she knew was Chase's bed. She had been in the room before, so she knew exactly where everything was, which was nice. She panted heavily, and looked up at Chase, who was just as tired.

"So, uh," Chase began after catching his breath, "Quinn's trying to feed you, right?"

"Yeah, she is. I can't wait until the camping trip," Zoey looked at Chase with a big grin on her face.

"So, do you think they'll let us roast marshmallows?" Chase asked, hoping Zoey would do something to get them off this topic before he kept asking stupid questions.

"They better. I'm ready for high calorie, high fat, and high cholesterol foods again," Zoey answered happily. Chase got up and walked over to his bed and sat next to Zoey. Was it just her, or did she eat a lot of butterflies recently? They fluttered around in her stomach energetically. By the looks of Chase's face, he had a violent tap dancer in his stomach. Why couldn't he just express his feelings for her? She would have loved to kiss him right now. But, then again, she had always wanted to kiss him, ever sense Nicole got her giddy that one night. She thought about it as the two sat in silence.

"So, Zoey, is Chase on your mind?" Nicole asked, being her normal girly self.

"Is there ever a time when he's not?" Nicole laughed.

"Have you ever kissed him in secret and never told anyone?" Nicole questioned, even though she knew the answer would be no.

"Of course not! I mean, that doesn't mean that I don't want to kiss him..." Zoey trailed off. "Who do you want to kiss?"

"Tim," Nicole answered automatically. "Is it just me, or is he gorgeous?"

"He's gorgeous, okay?" Zoey responded happily.

"So," Chase said, bringing Zoey back down to reality with a soft thud.

"So," Zoey said, leaning back a little. Chase mimicked her motion so the two were relaxing on Chase's pillow.

"What makes you think Quinn won't find you in here?" Chase wondered aloud. He enjoyed hearing Zoey's reasoning.

"I dunno, it just seems like Quinn wouldn't look in a guy's dorm," Zoey spoke airily. "I still can't wait for the camping trip!" Zoey said, more excited this time. "We should probably start packing, you know." Zoey couldn't quite deal with the awkward silences too well.

"Yeah, we should," Chase said, sitting up a bit. "So, what are you supposed to bring on a camping trip again?" Chase asked jokingly.

"Okay, well I'm gunna go pack," Zoey stood up. Chase looked a bit disappointed, and Zoey smiled a little." You're the greatest, Chase. Thanks for deciding to go camping with me." The next thing she did came as a shock to both her and Chase, but they both enjoyed it thoroughly anyways. Zoey found herself bending over to give Chase a peck on the cheek. Chase's face turned a light shade of pink. He looked up to discover Zoey had already closed the door behind her and was on her way towards her dorm to pack. He touched his cheek in disbelief and his grin seemed indestructible. He jumped up happily.

"Yes!" He shouted energetically.

* * *

"Quinn, You gotta, you, uh, wait!" Nicole shouted between pants and chased after the energetic girl who called herself Quinn. Quinn stopped to turn around.

"What? You've been following me asking for deviled eggs for the past half mile!" Quinn shouted angrily at Nicole. She looked at Nicole's shirt. "You've got oatmeal on your shirt! You've been eating oatmeal? It has a large amount of calories in it!"

"That's not oatmeal..." Nicole said exhaustedly. "I hate running.." Quinn's face wrinkled in disgust as she discovered what this oatmeal really was.

"Well, then, stop running! I need to find Zoey!" And with that, Quinn was off, yet again. Nicole sat down on a bench.

"I tried for you, Zoe... I really did... but a girl can only vomit so much, you know?" Nicole said to herself.

"I know," Zoey said, popping up from behind the bench. "and I really appreciate it, too."

"Zoe! How long have you been here?" Nicole scooted over so Zoey could sit down next to her.

"For about a minute," Zoey began. "I was leaving Chase's dorm and I saw Quinn so I dove down behind this bench."

"Oooh! You were in his dorm?" Nicole asked excitedly.

"Not kissing or anything," Zoey said, putting Nicole's idea down. "Although I did kiss him on the cheek." Nicole squealed.

"Zoey? Where are you? I will find you, you know!" Quinn's voice shouted, and Zoey rushed back behind the bench. Nicole sat still as Quinn ran by.

"Maybe I could explain from our dorm?" Zoey asked after Quinn was out of earshot.

"Yeah, that'd be a good idea," Nicole said, helping Zoey up. They began walking.


	3. A Kiss to Solve Confusion

**Okay, sorry about the delay in story time, but it's all good. I'm really not sure about any of these chapters anymore, so I'm just gunna forget about worrying about that. I think the characters went a bit OOC in this chapter, but they'll be back under control in the next one, so dont' whine to me about it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Zoey 101 or any of the characters on the show. But I still wish I did.**

* * *

"So then I bent over and kissed him on the cheek. And then I bolted," Zoey finished explaining to Nicole.

"Ooooh! So you two are almost an item!" Nicole squealed with excitement.

"I wish," Zoey said, smiling. Nicole smiled back.

"So when do you plan on getting back together to hang out?" Nicole questioned, her face serious again. Zoey thought for a moment.

"Well, tomorrow we have that big test in history, right?" Zoey asked. Nicole nodded slowly. "And the only class we have that day is history, so maybe, like, after the test I could ask if he wants to hang?" Zoey loved running her plans by Nicole.

"That sounds genius! Zoey, you are so smart. It's no wonder Chase is crazy over you," Nicole spoke happily.

"Is it that obvious? I thought he was just throwing signs my way, not to the world," Zoey adjusted her body position from sitting with her legs crossed Indian style to sitting with her ankles crossed.

"Zoey, were you asleep when he resigned from running for class president last month?" Nicole asked, laughing a bit. "How cute is he?" Nicole repeated the words she said after Chase had officially resigned.

"Adorable. And I get to go camping with him on Friday!" Zoey's smile grew larger. Nicole nodded understandingly.

"Are you sure you can handle time alone, well, like, in the woods with a bunch of nerds alone, yet?" Nicole asked, using her crazy reasoning.

"I think I am," Zoey responded, slouching a little. "But since when has anyone really been ready?"

* * *

"And then she kissed me on the cheek!" Chase exclaimed happily to Michael. They were in their dorm room.

"Wow, I guess you finally know how she feels about you, huh?" Michael smiled.

"Yeah," Chase spoke, somewhat dazed. "It was almost like the time we kissed for Trisha. Only much better, considering the fact that her lips actually made contact with my cheek and all..."

"Yeah, okay. So what do you think of Lola?" Michael asked, sitting up.

"She's okay, but I haven't seen much of her. I've been spending most of my time either with Zoey or looking at Zoey so I wouldn't really know," Chase answered.

"I think she likes me."

"Zoey?" Chase asked, his eyes wide.

"No, not Zoey," Michael laughed. "Lola."

"Oh. Well I guess that kinda makes sense," Chase said, not really thinking this, but he was sure Michael bluffed to make him feel good about Zoey.

"Cool. Well, I gotta jet, I have to meet Logan in the lounge to work on our history project," Michael stood up.

"At seven o'clock at night?" Chase questioned.

"Logan's a weird guy who won't let anyone do anything unless it's his way, remember?" Michael countered.

"Right. See you later," Chase said, waving goodbye to his best friend.

"Bye," Michael said, and he closed the door behind him. Chase grabbed his laptop and began playing games.

* * *

Lola, Zoey, and Nicole were all in their bedroom sitting in their beds, talking to each other before they were going to go to bed.

"Zoey," Lola began, "what happened between you and Chase today?" Zoey's eyes met with Nicole's, and the twomade a silent, mental vow to not tell Lola what had happened.

"Oh, nothing," Zoey said, glancing at the clock. "Will you look at the time! It's nine o'clock, and that means we need to get to bed! We've got to get some good sleep for that history test tomorrow!" Zoey blurted out, quickly turning off the light and putting her head on the pillow.

"Wait, hey! Turn the lights back on!" Lola shouted in protest, but Nicole and Zoey ignored their roommate in the darkness.

* * *

The gang was walking out of the history classroom, after a long, hard hour of work, all of them mentally exhausted more than physically tired.

"Was that the hardest history test ever or what?" Michael groaned.

"That was the hardest history test ever," Lola confirmed.

"Why does America have such a long history anyways?" Zoey complained. Nicole pinched her. "Ow!" Zoey glowered at Nicole, who jerked her head in Chase's direction. Nicole pushed Zoey towards the bushy-haired boy. The rest of the group understood what was going on and went their separate ways.

"So, do you wanna hang out?" Zoey asked somewhat nervously.

"Uh.. sure," Chase answered awkwardly.

"Okay," Zoey said. The two walked slowly in silence for a moment.

"Wanna go to Pacific Coast Pizza?" Chase asked anxiously.

"Mmm, carbs," Zoey responded happily. Chase laughed along with Zoey. "Quinn's experimental food is way too much. and nowhere near as good tasting as pizza." Chase nodded.

"Well, I wouldn't eat anything Quinn would give me, so, I suppose I'll just have to take your word for it," Chase smiled and opened the door for Zoey to walk in. After ordering, The two sat down, and stared at each other. In silence, again. It was moments like these that made Zoey extremely happy, for she could read Chase's mind simply by looking at his face. Right now, she could see him thinking "She likes me, I should tell her...she likes me, I should tell her." She blushed slightly, breaking her eye contact with him to look down at her hands, which were resting in her lap. Chase couldn't stand moments like these. He could never understand what Zoey was thinking, or even what she _might_ be thinking. That was, until her face turned a little pink and she looked down. That was a sure-fire sign of something. "So..." Chase spoke, hoping that he would soon find the courage to make Zoey aware of how he felt.

"So," Zoey repeated Chase's words. _Think, Zoey, think... You have to start a conversation with him somehow! It won't be fun sitting in bed thinking about all the things you could've done with your life tonight! _Zoey thought negatively to herself. "Look, Chase, about last night..." Chase immediately sat up. He had clearly been waiting for her to tell him about why she had done what she had done, like an eager school child. Not that he didn't like what she had done either. His cheek still tingled a bit whenever he looked at her.

"Yeah?" Chase asked hopefully. Zoey opened her mouth to begin speaking, but the waiter arrived with their pizza. Zoey had never looked so relieved in her life. She grabbed a slice and took a mammoth bite out of her wedge of pizza. "Zoey." Chase used his usual tone to get things of Zoey. She swallowed hard.

"What?" Zoey asked, pretending to be clueless. She loved toying with Chase.

"Zoey. You told me you would tell me about last night," Chase said in a firm tone. Zoey's victorious smile faded.

"Well, you were there, weren't you?" Zoey asked, helping herself to another slice.

"Just, well, Zoey, just..." Chase struggled to find the words that he wanted to say.

"What?" Zoey asked innocently.

"Oh, never mind," Chase answered, defeated. He slouched back down in his seat and the two finished their meal. After leaving the door, Zoey decided to try and get what she had been longing to hear come from Chase's mouth for so long audible to her.

"Okay, Chase, do you really want to know what happened last night?" Zoey asked, a sly smirk showing across her face.

"Yes, Zoey, I do," Chase answered relatively angry.

"Well, I don't know..." Zoey said jokingly. She looked at Chase, who was frustrated.

"Will you tell me what's going on in your mind? I know that it's easy for you to understand me because I can't keep things locked inside, okay? But you can, and it's making it really, really hard for me!" Chase raised the volume of his voice slightly. Zoey was taken aback by Chase's actions, but was flattered all the same by this. She smiled again, and leaned in closer to Chase. He leaned in as well. Her lips met his gracefully. For the next minute, Chase was living his dream that was unfortunately shattered by Dustin before, but now, thesmall, blondeboy was nowhere in sight. It was just Chase and Zoey,whichwas whatChase had wanted all along.When they parted, Zoey looked up at Chase nervously. Chase smiled. "Zoe..."

"I...I gotta go," Zoey said, and ran off. She could not believe what she had just done. And, apparently, neither could Chase.


	4. The Day Before the Trip

**Hey guys, really REALLY sorry I haven't been able to update! Highschool has not been treating me very well. But enough with the excuses, I'm sure you all just want to read!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Zoey 101 or any of the characters on the show.**

**...but it would be pretty sweet if I did.**

* * *

"You...you...you what?" Nicole asked excitedly. "You mean, he...and you...you two...lip locked?"

"Shhh!" Zoey shushed Nicole, fearful that their drama queen of a roommate, Lola, would overhear this conversation. "Yes, yes we did. We kissed, and it was just about the most amazing moment I've ever had in my life."

"Ooooh! I knew you two would kiss. You were just destined to kiss. I mean, really," Nicole spoke quickly, so her sentences were almost hard to understand. Zoey was used to the speed at which Nicole spoke, though, so it wasn't a problem. "So, what happed after you guys kissed? Did you kiss again or what?"

"What. I got nervous so I just said 'bye' and ran off. Do you think that was cool or stupid?" Zoey asked, not sure of her choice.

"Well, I suppose it was a little bit of both. I mean, it's cool that you broke it off and left, but it was also kinda dumb for you to leave after just one kiss. But that's just me," Nicole said as honestly as she could. Zoey smiled.

"Thanks."

"Anytime, Zoe," Nicole responded happily. There was a knock at the door. "I'll get it!" Nicole shouted happily and sprung at the door.

"Um. Hi," A slightly nervous Chase stood in the doorway. "Can I talk to Zoey for a moment?" Nicole turned around to look at her best friend. Zoey shook her head nervously, but Nicole ignored this sign and snatched her friend's wrist, dragging her towards the doorway and pushing her into Chase.

"Come back in a little while!" Nicole blurted out quickly and closed the door. Zoey looked at Chase.

"Hey.." She said nervously.

"Look, Zoey, I understand that you wanted to leave after we...well, you know, but I want to know something," Chase nervously put his hands in the front pocket of his sweatshirt.

"What?" Zoey asked, even though she knew what the question would be. There was a pause, before Chase spoke. His nervousness was gone and he looked confident.

"Okay, Zoey, I don't know if you already have figured this out or not, but I really, really.." Chase paused, looking right at Zoey, who stared right back. She had been waiting for him to gather up enough courage to tell her. He sighed deeply. "Look, this is really hard for me to say. Could you just like...not look at me or something?" Zoey smiled.

"Sure," she responded both happily and nervously. The tension between them was growing. She shifted her gaze from Chase's eyes to the logo on his sweatshirt.

"Okay," Chase said, taking a deep breath. "Zoey, when I first saw you, I kinda...well, you saw me, I crashed into a pole. I saw you, and you were really...well, pretty. I figured I may as well just look at you because all pretty girls tend to be jerks. But then you came over and helped me, and then we became friends. And we hung out for a whole year, and I really got to know you, and I really liked it. We played foosball, and we hung out all the time, and I always denied that I liked you as anything as more than a friend, but now..." Chase sighed again. "What I'm trying to say is...I really like you, Zoey. And if you don't like me, I'm just fine with it, but I just wanted to tell you. But, what I want to know is, do you like me?" Zoey's eyes wandered back up to meet with Chase's. There was an awkward silence, and the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Zoey squandered up all her bravery and opened her mouth.

"Yes, Chase. I like you," She said, looking away after making her statement. She heard Chase's smile spread across his face.

"Really?" He almost laughed happily. "You really do?"

"Why else would I have kissed you?" Zoey answered. Chase shrugged.

"Okay, I guess that's all I needed to know," Chase said, the awkward tone settling back in. He turned to walk away, but Zoey grabbed his hand.

"Chase?" Zoey asked, making sure Chase turned back around to look at her.

"What?" Zoey's hand touched Chase's cheek and pulled his lips toward hers. Once the lips had locked, her other hand moved to his back, for support. His arms wrapped around her back and pulled her closer. The two stayed in each other's embrace, with their lips together, tongues dancing, and eyes closed. For a long time, they did not break from each other's mouths. Once they finally did pull apart, Zoey and Chase kept eye contact.

"I...guess I'll see you tomorrow at twelve then," Zoey said after a long moment of silence. "Save a seat for me on the bus."

"Yeah," Chase agreed. He couldn't say anything else. He was in shock. "See you then," He managed to say, and then turned around to leave. He walked off and Zoey opened the door and rushed into her room. She threw herself onto her bed and kicked with joy. Nicole was sitting anxiously on her bunk..

"Okay, Zoey, tell me this: you two are going on that camping trip tomorrow, right?" Nicole asked excitedly.

"Yeah, why?" Zoey asked, unprepared for what Nicole was going to say next.

"Because me, Lola, Logan, and Michael are going too!" Nicole answered, hopping off her bed and straightening herself out again. Zoey sat up in shock.

"Um...why?" Zoey asked, sounding the least rude she could make herself seem.

"Well, we're all failing Natural Science and the teacher told us we would get extra credit, remember?" Nicole responded.

"But you and nature... they just don't mix! You, Lola, and Logan will be too busy freaking out about the bugs and other things..." Zoey spoke, somewhat panicky. It wasn't that she didn't want her best friend to come along, but she usually killed Chase and Zoey's moments.

"Don't worry, we won't get in the way, we just want to make sure that you and Chase don't get dragged down by all those environmental nerds," Nicole said and winked at Zoey.

"With extra emphasis on the mental in environmental," Zoey laughed. Nicole laughed as well.

"So, I was thinking about packing these," Nicole spoke, pulling out a pair of pink, clean tights. "I could wear them under this mini!" She smiled and pulled out a baby blue mini skirt.

"I'll help you pack more... um, woods worthy clothes," Zoey got up and walked over to Nicole's suitcase and began taking out every thing Nicole had packed as Nicole looked confused.

* * *

"We're going camping with you too," Logan said matter-of-factly to Chase, whose jaw dropped. 

"You're what?" He asked, not very pleased with what he had just heard.

"Relax, Nicole and Michael are making me and Lola do it so the teacher will pay more attention to us and give you and your new girlfriend some time alone," Logan said, and although the way he said it was rude and selfish, Chase could sense just the tiniest bit of kindness in this statement.

"Thanks. But You're going to need to not bring hairspray," Chase said, pointing to what Logan had already packed.

"Why don't you let me decide what to pack, alright?" Logan snapped. Chase shrugged and turned on the TV. It was on the PCA channel, and the usual blonde news guy was reporting.

"This week is the week where the class president, Mark Delfigallo, has to make all the major decisions about lunch and free periods. We've gone to his presidential advisor for more information," He spoke happily, and the scene changed to show Quinn's ecstatic face.

"This is Mark's big week!" She shouted excitedly, and after jumping up and down several times, adjusted her glasses. "He has to give speeches every day, and I'm going to be at every one of them!"

Chase didn't even bother to listen to the rest of the newscast, for Michael came in and had already begun quizzing Chase on how things were with Zoey. He smiled and explained as much as he could.


	5. This Will Be a Long Ride

**Um. Okay, so here's the fifth Chapter. Nothing really to say here.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Zoey 101 or any of the characters in the show.**

**So basically that sucks.**

* * *

"Nicole! Lola! Wake up!" Zoey shook her roommate's bunk beds in hopes that the two would wake up. She was all ready to leave the PCA campus and spend some alone time with Chase on the bus.

"Why am I waking up at eight in the morning?" Lola asked angrily. "We don't have class until ten!"

"Not today, we're going camping, and the bus leaves at ten," Zoey countered.

"And we wake up two hours early because..." Lola left her statement open to be completed by her roommate.

"You haven't packed yet, Nicole doesn't know what to wear, and we have to eat breakfast." When Zoey finished her statement she groaned.

"Are there cute boys in the woods?" She asked groggily.

"I don't know, but I know that you won't be able to choose your outfit properly so you need to get up!" Zoey snapped.

"Okay, geez Zoe," Nicole commented, rubbing her eyes and putting her feet off the edge of her top bunk and swinging them slowly to wake up.

"Good. Now you get in the shower and blow dry your hair, and do your makeup and whatever else you need to do. I'll pick your outfit for you in the meantime," Zoey ordered and Nicole hopped to the carpeted floor. After standing back up and adjusting her shirt, she opened her mouth to speak.

"Okay, Miss Camping Nazi," Nicole said to Zoey and grabbed her towel, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and makeup.

"Yeah, yeah," Zoey chose not to get upset over Nicole's words, for Nicole was not a morning person.

"Okay, Lola, you need to get out of bed and start packing," Zoey barked, even though she knew her high maintenance roommie wasn't listening. She could even hear her snoring. "Lola!"

"I'm up, I'm up!" Lola said, taking the covers off her bed after being yelled at. "Why is it so important that we're there on time?" Zoey didn't answer, for she was already in the closet picking Nicole's outfit for the day.

* * *

"Logan, if you don't get up, I swear I'll break your mirror in two!" Chase shouted, fed up with Logan's constant requests for "five more minutes."

"Fine, I'm up! Holy crap, man!" Logan said, sitting up and snatching his mirror protectively.

"Good. I'm gunna go eat breakfast, so you two better be ready when I get back," Chase announced to his two roommates and walked out the door in his pajamas. Upon arriving at the cafeteria, he spotted Zoey sitting by herself at a table, so he grabbed his usual cereal and strode casually over to her table. "Morning, Zoe," He tried using his smoothest voice.

"Morning," She said, shoveling another spoonful of scrambled eggs off her plate and into her mouth.

"How are Lola and Nicole taking this whole camping thing?" Chase questioned and poured the milk on his Rice Krispies.

"Nicole's been spending the past half an hour blow drying her hair to perfection and Lola doesn't understand why she can't bring her finest perfume to the woods," Zoey spoke, sounding cranky and tired. "What about Michael and Logan?"

"Logan just woke up after twenty minutes of 'five more minutes' and Michael's pretty prepared. Does Nicole know there's no electricity in the woods?" He asked and crammed three bites of Krispies into his mouth.

"I'm not sure she's gripped that concept yet, but I packed for her so we don't have anything to worry about," Zoey smiled. Chase mirrored her expression.

"Well I'm sure if Nicole's short a hair dryer on the trip Logan can give one of his to her," Chase commented and continued with his cereal. Zoey ate too, so they shared a moment where their spoons clacking against their plates conversed. "So...um..."

"I have to make sure Lola packed everything okay, but you have to save a seat for me on the bus, okay?" Zoey said after she had finished her eggs and stood up.

"Of course," Chase said and waved. "See you then!" Zoey walked over to Chase and gave him an awkward peck on the cheek.

"See you soon," Zoey said quickly and hurried off. Chase blushed and hurried to finish his cold cereal. He paused to watch her run off for a short moment and then smiled and continued wolfing down his Rice Krispies.

* * *

"Hey! You didn't pack me a hairdryer, Zoey! What kind of a packer are you?" Nicole shouted after looking in her bag for her hiking boots (which were the only shoes that would match her outfit).

"Whoops, I guess I was so caught up in the fact that the woods has no outlets to plug a hair dryer into that I didn't pack it. But we don't have time for that, we have to leave now or we'll be late!" Zoey shouted and grabbed Nicole and Lola, forcing them out of the room. She continued using force even though the two shouted words in protest.

"Nicole Bristow?" Mr. Sanchez, the science teacher, was taking roll on the bus. Zoey turned around and looked behind her on the bus to find Nicole's hand shoot up into the air.

"Here!" Nicole shouted giddily. Mr. Sanchez's pen scribbled something next to Nicole's name on his clipboard and he looked up to announce the next name.

"Zoey Brooks?" He announced.

"Right here," Zoey said, putting her hand up and putting it down after the teacher had acknowledged her existence. The teacher continued calling out names, but Zoey and Chase blocked his voice out as they began their conversation.

"So, how was the showing Nicole and Lola how to pack thing?" Chase questioned.

"Oh, it was pretty irritating but we got on the bus just fine," Zoey responded, with a sigh at the end.

"Chase Matthews?" Mr. Sanchez called. Chase raised his hand, not even bothering to talk and put it down again. "Okay, that's everyone, so let's get going!" This statement was followed by a very, very loud cheer from the environmental geeks as Logan, Lola, Michael, Nicole, Zoey, and Chase remained silent. They were quiet partially because they were still tired, and partially from the shock of hearing 15 geeks screaming at the top of their lungs.

"Is it just me or did that seem louder than an airplane?" Chase commented. Zoey laughed and got comfortable in her seat. This bus wasn't a yellow school bus, but it was just like the buses that had transported the students to Mystic Beach at the end of the semester. Only, instead of a bunch of excited Teens in bathing suits, there were a bunch of teens, most of whom with pocket protectors. Zoey could tell this was going to be a long ride.


	6. Nicole's Imaginary Boyfriend Calls

**Hey guys, sorry about the massive delay! I just finished finals (which were a pain in the butt!) so I was kinda in a bind for a little while, but now I'm back to normal. So.. we left off on the bus with Chase and Zoey, but now we're on the bus with Nicole, just to clear up any confusion. So... enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Zoey 101 or any of the characters on it.**

**..But I do own Norton...**

**..And I am ashamed I ever made him...**

* * *

"Hi, Nicole," A boy with large glasses said, leaning over the back of his bus seat to stare at her. 

"Huh? Oh... hi, um, Norton..." Nicole said, rather disgusted by this particular nerd's style. His greasy hair was parted off to the side, and he wore tired running shoes, jean pants that looked like they were supposed to be kapris (only everyone knew they were not and pretended not to notice the forest of hair that coated the lower half of this boy's shin), and a hideous blue striped shirt which was tucked into his pants, which were higher on his waist than Nicole's pants were on her own.

"I'm so excited for this trip? Aren't you?" Norton spoke excitedly. Nicole tried to hide her fear of Norton by forcefully smiling and pretending she had a call on her cell phone.

"Hello? Oh hey there! Yeah, I... could you hold on once second?" Nicole put her hand over the receiver. "Sorry Norton, I gotta take this call. It's my...uh... boyfriend," Nicole stated, feeling somewhat bad after Norton's face displayed disappointment. She continued pretending to be on the phone while Norton turned around in his seat and sat facing forward like everyone else.

* * *

"Okay, so how do you want to pass the time?" Chase questioned after a short, yet still amazingly awkward, silence. 

"Uh, how about..." Zoey stopped to think. "I don't know, I'm still so tired that I can't quite think yet." Zoey sighed. Chase smiled.

"Yeah, that's why I asked you what you wanted to do, I can't think right now either," Chase chuckled, trying to think of something actually interesting to say. "So what do you think we'll be doing once we get there?" Chase asked after Zoey didn't laugh at his lame comment.

"Probably some nature hikes, and we'll probably look at some leaves and stuff. Why?" Zoey was curious as to why Chase was actually interested in this. She was almost positive that he had only come for some alone time with her, which was the main reason why she found herself on this bus as well.

"I dunno. What do you think Logan will do?" Chase asked. He wanted Zoey to be aware of the fact that Logan would probably want to play spin the bottle or something like that so that way she could be ready. Or rather, so he could be ready through her knowing.

"He'll probably want to make out with someone, but he's always felt that way. I do know that Nicole brought her favorite game, though," Zoey responded.

"What's that?"

"Truth or dare jenga," Zoey said happily. "It's one of my favorites too."

"Truth or dare jenga? Jenga as in, that jenga where you stack the little wooden rectangles and pull them out and whoever makes the tower of wooden pieces fall loses?" Chase asked, rather confused.

"Yeah, only the little jenga pieces have truth or dare questions on them," Zoey smiled at this statement. She loved that game and made sure that Nicole packed it because the dares were so funny and the truths were so embarrassing. She couldn't wait to play it, although she wasn't quite sure how they would get rid of the teacher to play it.

"Creative," Chase granted Zoey a word of compliment.

"Isn't she brilliant?" Zoey yawned and stretched. She put her head on Chase's shoulder and prepared to dose off to sleep. Chase smiled in triumph.

* * *

"So, how was your talk with your boyfriend, Nicole?" Norton asked after Nicole had finally ended the conversation she had had with her imaginary boyfriend finally ended after she couldn't think of anything else to say. 

"It was good, why do you ask?" Nicole looked at Norton, hoping that he would just leave her alone.

"Just curious," Norton answered, not taking a hint at all. "Oh, do you have the schedule of what we're going to be doing each day?" Nicole was surprised after hearing this. There was a schedule?

"No, could I see it really quick?" Nicole held out her hand for the piece of paper.

"It just so happens that I grabbed two schedules, so you can keep this one," Norton smiled and winked as he handed the paper to Nicole. She fake smiled back and looked over it. It read:

Wednesday:

12:00-3:00 Drive to Woods and get out of bus

3:00-4:00 Set up tents

4:00-4:30 Finish setting up campsite and campfire

4:30-5:30 Nature studies

5:30-6:00 Dinner

6:00-7:00 Campfire

7:00-9:00 Free time

9:00- Lights out

Nicole didn't bother reading the rest of the schedule, for what they were doing tomorrow didn't interest her yet. They got two hours of free time! She was so excited, then they could play her favorite game she had ever thought of, truth or dare jenga! She had come up with the whole Idea that one month when she had to spend all her money on a backpack she had damaged in the PCA student store. She had run out of balloons to shoot with unpopped popcorn kernels so she pulled out the jenga box, and she dropped it on her foot, causing her to hop around in pain. During this hopping, she knocked a box of colored sharpies over and they landed on the floor next to the jenga pieces that were now scattered all over the floor. And ever sense then, she had loved that game.

"Nicole!" Lola shouted from the back of the bus. Nicole turned around to discover her roommate motioning her to join her, Michael, and Logan. She turned around to look at Norton, who had been watching her read the schedule.

"I, uh, gotta go see my friends, but I'll see you later, okay?" Nicole said to Norton, who nodded eagerly. "Okay, bye!" She spoke anxiously and hopped out of her seat and rushed to the back of the bus, as far away from Norton as she possibly could be.


	7. The Game begins

**Wow. I'm sooo amazingly sorry that this took so long. I had class, and swimming, and was only able to create this chapter because it was spring break this week. Well, er, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: As sad as it seems, I do not own Zoey 101.**

* * *

"Zoey, check it out!" Nicole said happily after scrambling into the tent they had just put up. "It's so roomy in here! This is so cool!"

"Let's hear you say that after discovering we only have cold showers," Zoey mumbled as she squeezed into the tent.

"What?" Nicole asked.

"I just said this is a nice tent," Zoey immediately responded, covering up that she had just said something that sounded like cold showers. "We did a good job."

"Yeah we did," Nicole agreed energetically.

"Ack! I'm stuck, Chase! Help!" Michael shouted from outside of Zoey, Nicole, and Lola's tent.

"We should help them," Zoey said, sitting up and finding her way out of the tent. Nicole chose to stay in the tent. Zoey zipped the door up after her, and Nicole listened to her footsteps grow farther away until she heard Zoey's voice again. "Have you guys ever put up a tent before?"

"Well, Not really, you see..." Chase's voice answered and Nicole's attention was now focused on the tent's door zipper. She looked at the figure entering the tent only to have chills sent up her spine.

"Hello, Nicole," Norton said happily and climbing into the tent.

"Hi, Norton," Nicole said, faking a smile when she was actually disgusted. Nicole glanced down at her cell phone only to discover she had no service. With a sigh, she decided that she would have to put up with Norton for a while.

"I see your cell phone has no service," Norton said smugly with a chuckle. "Did you know that even with no bars you can still receive text messages but you cannot send them?"

"No, I didn't," Nicole pretended to be interested.

"Would you like to come by my tent? It's much nicer than just sitting in this thing," Norton gestured to the somewhat tiny tent. You could stand up in it but only if you bent over and didn't put your head up in the air. It was really a six person tent, but Nicole, Zoey, and Lola had all agreed that it was better to have them in this tent so they could have room to put their stuff and to play truth or dare jenga.

"Oh, um..." Nicole really wanted to say no but couldn't quite come up with a good reason for doing so, so she had no choice. "Sure, why not?"

"Oh, really? That's great! Then come on!" Norton said, grabbing Nicole's wrist and rushing out of the tent. After they had zipped up the door behind them, Nicole looked at where Chase and Zoey were putting up the tent as Michael avoided being caught in the tent. Zoey winked at Nicole who sent her a death glare back, but she received laughter from Lola and Logan, who were flirting as they lazed around. "This is it," Norton said after stopping outside of his tent. The tent was a huge, twelve person tent. It was tall enough for you to stand up in, and it even had two separate rooms on the sides for those who chose to sleep early or something along those lines.

"Wow," Nicole spoke at long last. It was all she could say. It was a really nice tent! She could play some serious truth or dare jenga in here! "Who's staying in here besides you?"

"Well, there's Brendan, Joshua, George, Nathan, Greg, Sean, and Georgia," Norton spoke proudly, as if he was blessed to know all these people.

"Georgia?" Nicole asked. "I thought we weren't aloud to have mixed genders in tents!"

"Georgia gets this whole separate room to herself over here," Norton pointed to the miniature-tent room to their left.

"Oh," Nicole said, fake smiling again.

"Okay you guys, I'm going to need all of your help setting up this campfire!" Mr. Sanchez announced to the entire campsite.

"We should go help," Norton said, and began heading for the door. Nicole followed. As they left the tent, Nicole noticed a lot of Norton's friends flashing Norton the thumbs-up sign, like he was above all of them, seeing as they had never been this close to a girl before. Nicole smiled weakly to them.

* * *

"Finally done," Zoey said, setting the last rock on the edge of the pit where the campfire would soon be located.

"Okay, everyone, time for nature studies!" Mr. Sanchez called out to the students who had been stupid enough to want to come along on this educational horror of a camping trip. "Who can tell me what kind of tree this is?"

"Dogwood!" Norton called out immediately.

"That's correct, dogwood is the only type of tree that grows in this part of the forest," Mr. Sanchez awarded Norton, who smiled and winked at Nicole. Nicole gave him the thumbs up sign and then hurried to sit next to Zoey.

"Help me!" She whisper-shouted.

"Help you what?" Zoey whispered back.

"I think Norton has a crush on me!" Nicole whimpered. Zoey snickered quietly.

"Good luck with that," Zoey said after a short silence.

"Now who can tell me what kind of flower this is?" Mr. Sanchez held up a plant that was dark green and thorny. "Nicole?"

"Um... that's not a flower... that's a weed, Mr. Sanchez," Nicole spoke, unsure of what she had said was correct or not.

"Good job, Nicole! And I thought you weren't paying attention," Mr. Sanchez commented. Nicole smiled half-heartedly as Mr. Sanchez continued teaching.

* * *

"Man, nature studies are really boring," Michael said. "If I ever become a botanist or whatever you call that person who studies plants, I want someone to hit me."

"I'd gladly do that for you," Chase smiled as they poked their dinners with sticks. The tinfoil wrapped sausages were cooking next to the fire.

"Okay, I think they're done cooking," Norton announced, as he had been put in charge as Mr. Sanchez set up his own tent. "Be careful when you grab the tinfoil, we'll have to share tongs to open them," Norton stopped and pulled out the tongs. "Nicole, would you like to help me?"

"Well, I-" Nicole began, but received a sharp jab in the back from Zoey. "Ow!" She yelped.

"She'd love to help, wouldn't you, Nicole?" Zoey interrupted. Nicole glared at Zoey, who smiled as the brunette stood up to go help the innocent nerd who's name was Norton.

"Man, Zoe, You really want Nicole to give Norton a chance, don't you?" Michael asked.

"That, and I love seeing her suffer," Zoey laughed girlishly.

"Uh oh," Chase but in, "We've got an evil genius with us!" Zoey smiled.

"Zoey, Chase, and Michael," Norton called out, "Nicole and I have your sausages!" The trio walked over to get their food and laughed silently at Nicole, who was trying to make it through a conversation with Norton.

After eating their dinner, campfire began. Mr. Sanchez announced it proudly, and, seemingly from out of nowhere, he grabbed his guitar and began playing a few chords. All the environmental club people immediately began singing the words to a strange song that none of Zoey and her group knew. The song ended shortly. Chase, who was sitting next to Mr. Sanchez, eyed the guitar.

"Is that real Maplewood?" He asked, drooling over the guitar as if it were an almost naked girl.

"Yeah, actually, it is," Mr. Sanchez replied happily. "Do you want to play us a campfire song?"

"Sure!" Chase yelled happily and snatched the guitar greedily.

"What are you going to play?" Lola asked. She still really liked Chase, even though it was now obvious to her that the boy was madly in love with Zoey.

"Just try and figure it out," Chase said, and began playing the first chord of "Here, There, and Everywhere" by the Beatles, which happened to be his favorite band. "_To lead a better life..."_

"_I need my love to be here_," Zoey picked up. The two sang the entire song together, and Mr. Sanchez joined in every now and then, but everyone else just enjoyed the music. No one really listened to the Beatles besides Chase and Zoey.

"Okay..." Mr. Sanchez began, after the song was over, "A good song, but not a great choice for a campfire song..."

Everyone nodded silently in agreement. Chase shrugged, and Zoey smiled. "But enough about that, how about s'mores!"

Again, out of nowhere, Mr. Sanchez pulled out marshmallows, graham crackers, and Hershey's Milk Chocolate ("The best kind of chocolate there is," he told them).

* * *

Everyone's face was stuffed full of s'mores. Everyone's hands were cold from the chilly air. Everyone was done with campfire and moving on to free time.

"If anyone needs me, I've been challenged to a game of Texas Hold 'Em with Norton, Brendan, Sean, Greg, Nathan, Georgia, Joshua, and George," Mr. Sanchez announced. Lola, Logan, Michael, Nicole, Chase, and Zoey all agreed to pile into the girl's tent and play truth or dare jenga. The tower had been set up and everyone was ready. Nicole announced the rules.

"You get three chickens, whoever knocks over the tower gets to do the dare everyone has thought to be the best, and the seating has to be boy girl boy girl, not the same sex all next to each other, got it?" She explained. No one questioned the reasoning for this last rule, and did as they were told. "Now, how to decide who starts..." Nicole thought. Then, immediately after three seconds of thinking, she yelled "Nose Goes!" at the top of her lungs and put her index finger on her nose. Everyone else did immediately, except for Zoey. She was three seconds too slow.

"Okay, I'm going," She said after everyone had annoyed her enough. Carefully, her finger nudged the middle piece out. She pulled it up to the light provided by the lantern and read aloud: "Make out with the person across from you." She looked up to see who this person would be, and there was Chase, pale as a ghost.


	8. A Makeout and a Mystery Condiment

"Well, Chase," Zoey said as they got out of the tent together. Nicole had insisted upon this, seeing as how they didn't want to see them make out (she also knew Zoey well enough to know that Zoey wouldn't appreciate all the people watching her make out with her long time crush).

"Well," Chase repeated Zoey's words. They were both thinking the same thought: _I've kissed you two times before! Why is it so hard now?_

"I hear talking!" Nicole shouted from inside her tent.

"And talking means no making out!" Logan yelled, more hushed than Nicole so Mr. Sanchez wouldn't hear.

"And no making out means you waste one of your chickens!" Nicole lowered her volume even lower than Logan's, but just loud enough that the two could hear her still. Nicole unzipped the tent door and walked out to take them back inside. "You two-" Nicole's words stopped immediately when she saw the two lovebirds with their tongues down each other's throats. It was what Nicole classified as "one of those hot kisses where the girl is pressed up against a wall." Only in this case the wall was a tree. They broke apart and looked at Nicole. This was exactly why Zoey didn't really want Nicole on the trip with them.

"Sorry, Nicole, I..." Chase removed his hands from Zoey's shoulders.

"It's okay," Nicole said, and bolted away from the area. Zoey looked back at Chase with lustful eyes after Nicole was out of sight. Chase looked back at Zoey. She pulled him back into her personal space for another kiss. She was the aggressor in this relationship. She liked that. And apparently, so did Chase. Six or seven minutes later, Lola came out to break them up.

"You can stop making out now," Lola says. "It's your turn, Chase."

"Oh," Chase said. Zoey removed her hands from the back pockets of his jeans, and he removed his hands from her neck and back.

"Well then," Zoey said, walking back towards the tent and fixing her hair. After the three had gotten back in the tent and had gotten comfy again, Chase pulled a block out of the jenga tower.

"Have you ever been to first base before?" He read aloud. Glancing around at everyone in the tent, his eyes landed on Zoey and he said his answer. "Yeah."

"That's not fair! We all know you've lip locked with Zoey!" Nicole said immediately. "Pick another one."

"But-" Chase began, but was interrupted.

"I made the game and I can say whether or not you go again," Nicole spoke slowly, almost as if she was speaking to a first grader.

"Fine," Chase sighed and gently slid out another jenga piece. This one was another truth. "What is your dumbest fear?" Chase stopped to look at Nicole for help on this one.

"Like, talking Cheeseburgers, sushi, something stupid like that," Nicole said. Chase blushed immediately, and opened his mouth to tell everyone his story.

"I've always been afraid of deadly roses," Chase paused when everyone interjected with things like "what!" and "Are you crazy?".. "I know it sounds stupid, but one time, my mom was cutting roses in our backyard and throwing them into this bin. My dog went outside and started trying to catch the roses. He caught it in his mouth and yipped really loud and started bleeding everywhere. I went out to see what was wrong and my mom accidentally threw a rose and it got caught in my hair. When I tried to take it out, it cut up my hand. Ever sense, I have avoided roses like the plague." His story is followed by a short silence. After this silence, the air is filled with laughter. Chase smiled, somewhat embarrassed and waited for everyone to stop laughing so they could get on with the game. Sitting next to him, Lola slid out her own Jenga piece.

"See how long you can keep an ice cube in your underwear," Lola read aloud. "Well, we don't have any ice cubes around, so I guess I'll have to pass." Lola let out a sigh of relief.

"Not so fast," Logan said and left the tent for a minute or two. He came back in with an ice cube in his hand.

"You're kidding, right?" Lola asked. Nicole and Logan shook their heads. She flinched as she shoved her hand down her pants with the ice cube in her fist. She automatically yelped and bounced around in place.

"Is it nice and cold, Lola?" Logan asked. Lola glared at him shortly before hopping around until the ice cube melts.

"It's really wet," Lola commented. Everyone else laughed in amusement. "Your turn, Michael." Michael swallowed hard and chose his jenga piece carefully.

"Eat a 'Mystery Condiment' prepared by everyone else but you," He read aloud. Nicole giggled and ran outside. After the rest of the group sat around listening to her rummaging around through bags outside, Nicole came back in with a bowl, a spoon, and every condiment made to man. They laughed and mixed everything together for five minutes straight. After the bowl was filled with a sticky, smelly goo, Nicole crawled over to Michael with a spoonful of it.

"Open," Nicole said, and the moment Michael opened his mouth Nicole shoved the spoon in. Michael swallowed and grimaced.

"What is that stuff?" He asked after scrubbing his tongue with a towel.

"You don't wanna know, man," Logan answered, laughing with the rest of the group.


End file.
